Sleep and Dreams. Speaking exercise

Sleeping woman

In this lesson we will be talking about sleeps and dreams in English, and looking at the past perfect continuous.

 

"My father said there were two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better".
— Marlo Thomas 

Although I absolutely hated going to bed when I was a child, now I think there’s nothing nicer than going to bed after a long day’s work, and going into my own dreamworld! However, it’s not always as nice as it sounds, especially when you are unfortunate enough to have a terrible nightmare. 

Before we get started, here is a list of vocabulary that will help you talk about sleep and dreams in your English lesson.

Sleeping Homer

English Vocabulary on sleeping and dreams

Grammar to use in your English conversation class

Past perfect continuous: had been + present participle

We use this tense to talk about something that started in the past, and continues until another moment in the past.

Examples:

I had been watching a movie about aliens before I went to sleep.

I had been working all day and went to bed without eating.

I probably dreamt I was a dolphin because I had been swimming in the ocean that afternoon.

Useful verb forms:

Sleep - slept - slept

Dream - dreamt - dreamt 

Common mistake:

√ Dream about (someone/ something)

X Dream with (someone / something)

Girl has nightmares

Questions we will discuss in your English conversation class:

• How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
• Do you wish you could get more sleep? Why/ why not?
• Do you ever have a nap? Why/ why not?
• How long do you nap for?
• Are you a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper?
• Do you know anyone who sleepwalks?
• How often do you dream?
• Do you usually remember your dreams?
• What do you know about dream interpretation?
  
   
• What could the following dreams represent? 
  - One in which you are flying
  - One in which you are paralysed 
  - One in which you are being chased
• Do you try to understand the meanings of your dreams?
• Do you believe that dreams can help us solve our problems?
• Have you ever had a dream that later came true?
• Have you ever dreamt in a different language?
• Do you think that animals dream? Why/ why not?

​

Practice reading and listening before speaking with your native English-speaking teacher:

We certainly can’t ask an animal what it’s been dreaming about, so it is difficult for us to know whether or not they actually dream. This article looks into the mystery of animals’ dreams: BBC: What do animals dream about?

And this short video looks into nightmares, and whether our ancestors had the same bad dreams as modern-day humans do: 

Speaking practice:

Now book your online English conversation class with one of our native English-speaking teachers to put into practice what you’ve learned in this lesson. Only by doing this will you improve the most important communication skill in English: speaking!
 

Not an OLA student yet? Sign up for your FREE trial class now! 

Like this lesson? Please share it via social media…